2 | Tuesday, October 13, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PAGE TWO

Rapper Chen Jinnan (left) and competitors perform on the reality show Rap for Youth. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Acts: Skills and messages showcased

From page 1 be very cool when he spoke to me, but I was Since his win on The Rap of China, he has the Hangzhou dialect and English because so nervous,” Chen said. had a hectic schedule, performing on shows, he wanted it to be different. Chen, who has nearly 60,000 followers on She had no plans to become a profession­ at outdoor music festivals and on television. “There are rappers performing in dialects her Sina Weibo account, said: “I read those al rapper, and for two years taught English Since its premiere, Rap for Youth has from Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, but it’s messages and cried. I didn’t expect that song at a training center for primary school stu­ received more than 160 million views and rare for someone to rap in the Hangzhou to be so powerful and shared by so many dents in her hometown. has gained a high reputation among audien­ dialect,” he said. people.” “I wanted to prove to my parents that I ces. “I grew up with the dialect, which has Chen wrote Malice from the World in May could make a living on my own, so I worked It was the first competitive reality show unique tones, articulation and rhythm. It’s last year after receiving a message from a as a full­time English teacher. After I made a launched by Bilibili, which boasts 172 mil­ very interesting to rap in it, which is differ­ fan who was studying in Canada and bat­ success of this, I quit the job and became a lion monthly users in China and is known ent from rapping in Mandarin.” tling severe depression, which had been rapper,” Chen said. for its young fan base. He added that it is good to see more peo­ ignored by her parents and schoolmates. “What I love most about being a rapper is Rap for Youth has received more than 3.14 ple who appreciate rap in dialect, which is “No one understood just how severe her that you can show attitude and be yourself million comments, also known as “bullet keeping local culture alive. depression was, and she was considered a with your songs. It’s an art form, which is chat”, from viewers — a reference to users Tang Huan, a fan of Rap for Youth, who is problem. I shared my own story with her in straightforward and very personal.” posting their opinions on screen while also from Hangzhou, said: “I’d never lis­ the hope of offering her encouragement,” She took part in Rap for Youth because watching the show. tened before to anyone rapping in the said Chen, who spent about an hour writing she wanted to meet more people and to see The creative team started to prepare for Hangzhou dialect, which is so cool. This rap­ the song’s lyrics. how other rappers made music. the show in February, selecting 40 rappers per really cares about the culture.” Her words of advice eventually worked, The show, in which celebrities such as from nearly 200 candidates. Originally, TangoZ, 32, first listened to hip­hop at with the fan deciding to take a year off rappers MC HotDog and Higher Brothers 2,000 to 3,000 rappers applied to appear. middle school. A big fan of Taiwan pop star school to return to China for medical treat­ take part, is staged in a renovated area at an Jay Chou, he is impressed by the way Chou ment. abandoned factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu prov­ Art form localized raps in his songs. Chen didn’t intend to dedicate the song to ince. Li Ni, Bilibili’s deputy chairwoman and “I vividly remember learning to sing one anyone in particular, but the fan told her she The performers spend a lot of time in each chief operating officer, said: “Rap music is of his hits, Nunchucks, and imitating his wanted more people with similar problems other’s company and even live together. popular among our users. We want the rapping over and over again,” he said. to listen to Malice from the World and gain “The competition is intense and I was show to reflect Chinese rappers’ mindsets After graduating from Civil Aviation inspiration from it. only able to get three or four hours sleep Subs, from Changzhou, Jiangsu and their lives. We also want to break the Flight University of China with a major in The song was published online by Chen in before appearing. My hands were shaking as province, performs on Rap for stereotype about hip­hop music, which air traffic control, TangoZ works by day as September last year. I took the stage, but when I started to sing, I Youth. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY used to be associated with rebellion and an air traffic controller in Hangzhou. He She has also faced controversy in cyber­ felt the lights shining on me and was totally profanities. wanted to quit his job and become a pro­ space, especially after her appearance on in the zone,” Chen said. “This Western art form has been localized fessional rapper, but changed his mind Rap for Youth. “I’m very happy I made new friends and ’n’ Roll on the New Long March, in which he in China, with rappers talking about their because he could not make a living from On Aug 17, Chen posted on Sina Weibo: they helped inspire me. Communicating performs the rock/rap song It’s Not That I lives and expressing their views on issues of it. “People are attacking me online. They say with people gives me inspiration. Don’t Understand. public concern.” Although his parents have no idea about that I’m too fat and not beautiful enough, but “The competition is continuing and I have In 2017, The Rap of China, a reality show Rap for Youth, directed by Yan Min, has rapping, they support their son’s passion for I really don’t care. I’m great.” no idea how it will turn out, but I’m dream­ produced and broadcast by iQiyi, one of the made its mark by featuring young competi­ the art form. Born and raised in the northeastern prov­ ing about performing to packed live house nation’s largest online streaming sites, tors whose music addresses issues such as TangoZ, who now has some 50 original ince of Jilin, she began listening to hip­hop venues one day.” placed hip­hop firmly in the spotlight for the mental health, campus bullying and preju­ songs to his name, is good at observing life when she was 13. A year later, she started to Hip­hop took root in the United States in first time in the country. dice against women. and committing whatever inspires him to write material about her life, describing this the 1970s. The show attracted some 2.7 billion views Another promising rapper to appear on lyrics. experience as “like writing a diary”. It consists of stylized music that common­ and provided a forum for underground rap­ the show is Zhong Qi, better known by his “For example, when I take a bus and see “It was purely for fun, and was like play­ ly accompanies rapping — a rhyming form pers such as Gai, whose real name is Zhou Yan, stage name TangoZ, who comes from people on the streets, I think of verses in the ing video games. I wrote about my feelings of speech, which is chanted and which and Nawukere, from Xinjiang Uygur autono­ Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, and Hangzhou dialect and write down the good — what I love and what I see,” she said. developed as part of hip­hop culture. mous region in the northwest of the country. raps in the local dialect. ones,” he said. In China, hip­hop has had a fan base since Gai, 33, the first winner of The Rap of Chi­ He won applause for one of his songs, Before TangoZ took part in Rap for Youth, New cosmetics the 1980s. The Western comedy­drama na, and now one of the show’s four judges, Love Paradise, which is about the city. He winning the competition was his priority. When Chen turned 15, she started to rap Breakin’, directed by Joel Silberg, which said: “Compared with pop music, the mar­ wrote it in 2018, when he decided to take However, now he enjoys spending time online, and two years ago, finished third in a arrived in the country in 1984, tells the story ket for Chinese hip­hop is small. We need part in a rap competition staged by a local with other rappers and focusing on new national rap competition, one of her biggest of a struggling young jazz dancer who meets more rappers to have their voices heard.” radio station. material. breakthroughs to date. up with two breakdancers. Born and raised in Weiyuan county, Sich­ “I wanted the opportunity to perform at “What I love about the show is that it not “I bought new cosmetics for the competi­ According to media outlet The Paper, uan province, Gai used to rap in a bar in an outdoor music festival — and I made it,” only showcases rappers’ skills, but also val­ tion because one of my favorite rappers, which is based in Shanghai, in 1989, Chinese Chongqing, where he made 200 yuan a TangoZ said. ues the messages we deliver through our Danko, was one of the judges. I pretended to rock star Cui Jian released his album Rock night. He wrote the song using a combination of work,”he said.

Zhong Qi (left), Chen Jinnan (right) and other participants (center) compete on Rap for Youth, which has received more than 160 million views since premiering on Bilibili. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY